Uniting cats two at a time, thanks to Tracer Advance

Black and white cat Poppy went missing on a snowy night on 22nd December 2009, sending her owner Karen Pincock from Halifax on a hunt that resulted in two cats being reunited with their rightful owners, thanks to their Tracer Advance microchips and Petlog.

Poppy lived a happy life with her family including their dog Sabre; she came and went as she pleased through the cat flap but would always come home in time for breakfast. Three days before Christmas in 2009 however Poppy did not come home and owner Karen knew something was wrong. She immediately searched for Poppy around the area, asked neighbours if they had seen her and created posters which she put up around the neighbourhood. She contacted her microchip database Petlog, to notify them that Poppy was missing. Karen had upgraded to Petlog premium (available for a one off cost) - one of the benefits of Petlog premium is that Petlog will send out alerts to surrounding vets and welfare organisations.

A month later Karen received a phone call close to midnight from someone who had found Poppy and immediately ran to meet the lady, paid a reward and took the cat home, only for her and her daughter Chloe (11), to realise in the light of day that unfortunately the cat was not Poppy. The next day Karen took the cat to be scanned and found that this cat was also microchipped with a Tracer microchip. The owner, Chris was immediately informed and quickly came around to pick up his cat, Jack. He was over the moon as Jack had been missing for over a year, giving Karen confidence Poppy would come home again too.

On the 30th April this year Karen received the phone call she had almost given up hope for, Poppy had been found. She had been taken to the RSPCA where she was scanned and her microchip led to her owners. Karen was delighted and burst in to tears, she explains: "I had almost given up hope; it had been 16 months since we had last seen her, everyone was delighted to have her back at home with us and she settled straight back in, cuddling up with our dog Sabre on the sofa almost immediately."

Sadly over 250,000 pets go missing every year, highlighting the importance of microchipping. June is National Microchipping Month and aims to raise awareness of microchipping, as well as the importance for pet owners up to date contact details on the associated database, hence the need for pet owners to ensure they update their details if they move house, or change phone numbers for example. Microchips have proven to aid reunification, and even if a pet has been missing for a long time - microchips ensure that a found pet can be identified. An integral part of the process is for owners to keep their contact details up to date on the database, so they can always be contacted.

There are however different microchip packages available in the UK, which differ in terms of quality and aftercare services. Microchips themselves can differ in implantation techniques, reliability and the reading distances can vary. Tracer Advance is made of a biopolymer material which means that it is 10 times stronger than glass microchips and less likely to shatter.

Make sure you also know which database your details are registered with, as there are four databases operating in the UK all offering different services. If you have your pet microchipped with Tracer Advance, your details will be registered with Petlog, the UK's largest database. Petlog are on hand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

To find a Tracer Veterinary practice near you, please visit http://vetsearch.circdata-fusion.co.uk/

To find out more about updating your details with Petlog, please visit http://www.petlog.org.uk/